Universe

Place of Birth

Creators

Contents

History

Origin

Jeff Hagees, a professional pool player born in Duluth, Minnesota, had a gambling problem. He started gambling as a way to get his mind off of his job as a defense contractor and missile propulsion engineer for the Department of Defense, but quickly found himself owing thousands to pool sharks. Eventually, he was fired because his employer was worried he would sell their secrets to pay his debts despite having no proof that he did anything. Penniless and still owing the sharks, Hagees became 8-Ball to steal the money he owed, combining his pool and engineering interests to start his own organized crime business that went on a spree in New York.[1]

Sleepwalker

Sleepwalker tracked down 8-Ball on two occasions. During the first encounter, Sleepwalker won the fight and demanded to know who he was and what he was doing before he handed him over to the authorities. Rick Sheridan, however, woke up, and Sleepwalker was forced to escape. During the second encounter, 8-Ball won the fight and shot innocent bystanders, but Sleepwalker escaped.[1]

The Bar With No Name

8-Ball frequented The Bar With No Name, a popular super-villain hangout, where he often played pool with Oddball. It was there he also ran into various female villains, and was a witness to a fight between Black Mamba, Asp, and Impala vs. Battleaxe, Steel Wind, and Golddigger.[2]

Challenging Hobgoblin

He challenged Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale) to a $100,000 round of pool, but Macendale changed the prize during the game to who got to kill Sleepwalker, now Hagees' nemesis. The game of pool turned into the challenge of actually being the first to kill Sleepwalker AND get $100,000, but during said challenge, both 8-Ball and Hobgoblin realized that Sleepwalker wasn't fighting as hard as he usually was (due to a mind-transfer with Rick Sheridan), and he did not want to kill the weaker version. He ended up beating up Hobgoblin to make him stop, but Rick was already dying, and 8-Ball left him to his fate.[3]

The Big House

Eventually Hagees was arrested and sent to prison in the Big House. He eventually escaped on She-Hulk's hand, (since the inmates stayed shrunk by Pym Particles), along with a group of villains including the Mad Thinker. He was eventually returned to prison by She-Hulk, but managed to escape again, this time organizing thefts in order to help his sick grandmother instead of paying off his debts. [4]

Death

When he helped Whirlwind, Humbug, and Freezer Burn steal a computer chip from Ricadonna while she is at a party. Unknowingly, the chip contained a deadly computer virus, and they are caught on tape. Ricadonna put out contracts on their lives, and 8-Ball was subsequently killed by the Wrecker, who planted a car grenade while being escorted back to prison and interrogated by Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, having been tracked to his grandmother's house. Ricadonna was arrested, and 8-Ball has had two successors since.[5]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Transportation

Weapons

Cue stick (equipped with mechanism enabling it to magnify any force applied to it more than a thousandfold and transmit that force to anything it strikes), ball-bombs (pool balls containing explosives which detonate on impact)
Special weaponry: Ball-bombs (pool balls containing explosives which detonate on impactOther accessories: Giant floating explosive pool balls

Trivia

Jeff had a gastrointestinal disorder, causing him to need to use the bathroom frequently. [6]